Rock-drill



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om .xwwwfff M Q P gw m M. NAW L\\ Q wi W. ,n NX k k N5@ w M .mu f w vthe construction of the guides for the cylin- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

EDWARD A. RIX, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ROCK-DRILL.

srncrrrcAfrroN refining 'peut ef Lettere Patent Ive/110,334, dated september e, 1889.

Application sled April 15, 188e.

serrer 110.307,32@ (remodel.)

To all whom it may concern. Be it known that I, EDWARD A. RIX, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invent-ed an Improvement in Rock-Drills; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates' to certain improvements in rock-drills of that class in which the drill is connected with a piston moving in a cylinder under air-pressure, and in which a valve mechanism is so arranged thatl thereciprocation of the piston and drill will be produced automatically.

My invention consists of certain details of construction which will be more fully explained in the following specification. Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete 'explanation of my invention, Figure l is alongitudinal vertical secf tion of the cylinder, showing the piston with the portion at one end broken away, alsoa transverse section of the valve-chamber and valve. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the main valve-chamber, showing the claw-valve and a part of the sleeve below. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal `section of the supplemental sleeve or lining within which the main valve travels. Fig. tt is ahorizontal section through X X of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sec` tion taken through Y Y, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section of the main valve-cham? ber, showing the claw or auxiliary valve and the actuating spuror sleeve. Fig. 7 is a detached view of the main valve. Fig. 8 is a perspectiveexterior view of the sleeve and piston.

The first portion of my invention relates to der. Hitherto these guides have been made comparatively light and have been fixed in a horizontal plane above that in which the piston reciprocates, and as a consequence the rapid reciprocation and the jar of the piston in a different plane tended to destroy the accuracy and durability of the parts.

In my invention A is a frame or bed-piece, upon which cylinder B is mounted. C C are the guides formed in said bed-piece, and D are the caps which are bolted to the frame A and which form the upper sides of the guides when bolted in place. The projecting Slide E, which llits these guides upon each side of the cylinder B, is beveled or formed of a cor' responding shape, and the axes of` these guides are in the horizontal plane, which, if continued, would pass directly throughthe axis of the cylinder and pistou.

F are the rods by which the cylinder-heads are bolted on, and these rods pass through longitudinal chambers or openings which are formed within the guides, as shown in the transverse section, Fig. 5. By this construction of `the guides the line of travel of the drill and piston arebrought into the same horizontal plane with the guides and directly between them, so that no undue strain takes place from the rapid motion or shocks of the drill. I am also enabled to give the guides a large surface, which causes them to run more smoothly and wear longer.

.G is the piston, which reciprocates Within the cylinder B, causing the drill to operate by its reciprocation, and it also rotates the drill by means of the spiral grooves I-I, formed in t-he shank I, these parts operating in the usual manner for rock-drills.

Hitherto the packing or rings which make a tight joint for the piston have been fixed in the piston itself, and these rings, by reasonof the rotary motion of the piston, are very difficult to keep tight and soon wear out and break. i

In my invention the sleeve J surrounds the piston between the heads or lianges at the opposite ends, and while it reciprocates with the piston it does not partake of its rotaryl motion. I therefore turn grooves or channels in the ends of this sleeve, within which` are tted the packing-rings K, which thus serve to make a perfectly tight joint, and at the same time they are not subjected to the constant end wear which would-take place if they were fixed in thepiston, which is constantly rotating inside of rings, andV which soon makes so much Wear and `end-play as to destroy their eliiciency, as before described. The head L of the piston is xed permanently upon the piston-rod M,.and the sleeve J being slipped into place upon the piston the movable headN is screwed in so that it acts as a follower and holds the sleeve properly ICO in place between the two piston-heads. All wear caused by the rotation of the piston within the sleeve takes place between. the ends of the sleeve and the inner faces of the piston-heads, and when this wear becomes sufficient to cause any end-play of the sleeve it is easily taken up by dressing off the end -of the piston, against which the follower N abuts, and the inner end of the follower, so as to allow it to be screwed in a little farther and again make a fit against the end of the sleeve.

O is an angular o r cam-shaped channel, of which there are two at ninety degrees to each other made longitudinally in the sleeve J, for the purpose of actuating the supplemental claw or valve through which the main valvev P is actuated. One only of these grooves O is employed at onetime, the sleeve being turned so that this groove is upon the same side as the valve-chamber. The stem or shank Q of the claw R enters this slot O, and when the piston and sleeve are reciprocated the shoulders of the slot O act upon the stern Q, and thus reciprocate the claw R transversely to the movement of the piston. Directly opposite each cam-shaped slot is a straight slot j, in which slides a guide-pin Z), fastened to the cylinder, thus preventingthe sleeve from turning. The object of this transversely-moving claw or valve and the cam-driving device above described is to reduce lthe power necessary to drive the valve as much as possible, so that the speed and efficiency of the piston and drill will not be reduced by the friction of these parts. This may be effected in two Ways-either by making'R an auxiliary valve with ports leading from its chamber to the main valve-chamber in the usual and well-known manner of these valves, and as shown in Figs. 2, 4f, and 6, or the part R may have upturned ends, as shown in Fig. 5, which engage with slots made in the valve P, so as to move it directly. In either case the stein or shank Q extends downward and enters the inclined slot O, and the valve or claw receives its 'niotion from Ythe piston, reciprocating at right angles with it. Y

y S is the valve-chamber, and instead of iitting the valve P directly into this cylindrical chamber I have shown a sleeve T, which [its the chamber and forms a lining therefor, while the valve P is iitted to travel wit-hin this sleeve. By this construction all the wear which takes place is between the easily-replaced valve and sleeve, while the more expensive part of the engine is never worn out. The valve is a hollow cylindrical one, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. Steam is admitted into one end of the valve-chamber through a passage at U, Fig. 5, passing into the interior of the hollow valve and escaping through numerous openings V, which are formed in grooves or channels which are turned around the out-side of the valve, as shown. An intermediate groove or channel IV connects with the exhaust-passage at Y, and the ports Z in the engine are arranged so' as. to be alternately opened and closed by the reciprocation of the valve in the usual manner for slide-valve engines. This construct-ion of the valve enables me to balance it perfectly and to so reduce the power necessary to move itthat I am able to increase the effective operation of the drill about sixteen per cent., or from one hundred to one hundred and fifty blows more in a minute than can be given in any form of unbalanced slide-valve.

The sleeve J, in which the slots O are made for actuating the valve-claw, is made in a single piece, and may therefore be hardened without losing its proper form, and by thus hardening it I increase the durability of the cam-grooves O. In addition to this, by making more than one groove upon the face ofthe sleeve I am enabled to turn the sleeve so as to use a new groove when one has become too much worn for the proper service, and the life of the cam is thus increased by as many times as there may be slots O made in the face of the sleeve.

Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y l. A cylinder having a reciprocatingpiston, slides iitted into guides upon opposite sides of the cylinder, so that a line drawn through the axis of the cylinder will pass through the center of the slides, central channels through the guides, and bolts passing through said channels and securing the heads to the cylinder, substantially as herein described. Y

2. In arock-drill, the cylinder having a piston reciprocating and rotating therein, the non-rotating reciprocating sleeve fitted between the heads of the piston, said sleeve being made in a single piece and having a series of cam grooves or slots formed longitudinally in different parts of its surface, and

a threaded follower for retaining the sleeve' in place, substantially as herein described.

3. In a rock-drill, the reciprocating rotating piston, the non-rotating sleeve having the longitudinal cam groove or channehin combination with the threaded follower for retaining the valve in place, the reciprocating main valve, and the intermediate supplemental claw or valve having a stem or shank which engages the-camgroove of the sleeve, whereby the valve is moved transversely to the movement of the piston, substantially as herein described.

4. In a rock-drill, the cylinder and reciprocating piston, the valve-chamber and sleeve iittedin said chamber having slots or openings corresponding with the ports which connect with the end of the cylinder, in com-bination with a hollow oylindrically-balanced valve reciprocating within the sleeve transversely to the movement of the piston, and an auxiliary claw 0r valve having a valvestem which receives motion from the recipro- IOO IOS

eating piston and transmits 4`it to the main In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my 1o valve, Substantially as herein described. hand. i

5. In a rook-drill, the reeiproatingpiston v l having a fixed head at one end,a non-rotat- EDWARD A. RIX. 5 ing sleeve litted to said piston, and a sorewl K threaded follower N, Whereloy the sleeve is Witnesses:

retained in place and Wear between the ends` S. H. NOURSE, of the sleeve and the piston-heads maybe Com- H. C. LEE. pensated, substantially as herein described. 

